Snow Phipps Group LLC has acquired a majority stake in Cascade Environmental Services LLC. The seller was Emigrant Capital Corp.Houlihan Lokey was financial advisor to Cascade on the transaction. Cascade is a provider of environmental and geotechnical services in the U.S.

American Capital said Thursday it has invested $31.5 million loan to support Snow Phipps Group buy of Teasdale Foods. In October, Snow Phipps closed its buy of Teasdale, a maker of bean and hominy products.

Culver City, Calif.-based clothing company Velvet has inked an undisclosed amount of financing from New York-based private equity firm Snow Phipps Group. Terms of the deal were not released, though Snow Phipps will take a “significant interest” in the company, according to a written statement. The Sage Group advised Velvet on the deal. Snow Phipps was advised by William Susman in conjunction with Financo, Inc.

Interactive Technology Solutions, which is backed by Snow Phipps Group, said Monday that it has acquired the outstanding stock of Peace Technology Inc. Financial terms were not announced. Laurel, Md.-based Peach provides technical services to design and manage complex applications for federal, state and local governments. ITSolutions, of Silver Spring, Md., is a management and information technology services company. Snow Phipps is a NY PE firm.

On Monday we reported that Snow Phipps was in the market raising its second buyout fund, with a $700 million target. Yesterday the firm filed its Form D on the fund, disclosing that Credit Suisse is the firm’s placement agent. No target or amount raised was listed. The firm entered the market in recent weeks. […]

Many buyout firms would like to join the $1 billion club, and they’re so very close. Before the recession, it was almost assumed that your average-performing $700 million firm would come back to market with a $1 billion vehicle. Not the case anymore. As one LP said, “$700 million is the new $1 billion.”

The latest example of this leveling-off of fund sizes is Snow Phipps Group. The New York-based buyout firm has come to market with a $700 million target for its second fund — only a slight jump from its $620 million debut vehicle. “Everyone expected they would raise $900 million or more,” said a source familiar with the situation. Snow Phipps declined to comment.

The firm was founded in 2005 and invests in middle-market companies in the specialty franchising, basic and process industries, apparel and luxury retail, media technology, specialty finance, IT services and telecommunications equipment and industrial components sectors.

A similar “adjusted target” situation occurred with Arlington Capital, which was expected to graduate from a $585 million fund to the $1 billion mark on its third vehicle. Instead, the fund has a $750 million target. The firm’s former placement agent, UBS, viewed even that increase as too steep, leading Arlington Capital to drop UBS for Credit Suisse.

Snow Phipps Group has acquired ITS Holding Co. from The Edgewater Funds. No financial terms were disclosed. ITS is a Silver Springs, Md.-based provider of IT services to the U.S. government civilian, national security, and intelligence agencies. ITS co-founder and CEO Stefan Lalos joined Snow Phipps on the deal, and will continue to lead the company.